My husband is the Guest of Honor at Chancellor College today. A program called Our Music It is a student initiative started under sponsorship from Art and Global Health Centre Africa. Jacaranda music students and some teachers are attending. Unfortunately I am unable to attend as I have an engagement in Blantyre today. I asked him to tell me what he was going to say in his speech and here it is. Dr Lipenga - Mr Andrew Faria - The Chancellor College Administration Rodney Likaku and the students of Our Music program The Art and Global Health Centre Personnel Students with Dreams 2014 - Fourth year students at Chancellor College Members of the press - All invited guests. - Ladies and Gentlemen It is a great honor for me to be invited at this function today: Our Music concert, with a mix of artists, students, children, poets and actors performing on this stage. A true celebration of a community of talents. Our music indeed, since music is the shared Art by excellence. Music is the universal language, the language we all understand, we all feel, we all share around the world. No matter where you come from, or how old you are. Music is for everyone. Music is our cultural heritage, our history and our pride. From the thousands of sounds and rhythms that reached America from Africa, the blues was born, and then jazz, gospel, rock n roll. Music from Africa continues today to travel the world, played and sang by great troubadours such as Baaba Maal, Youssou Ndour, Oliver Mtukudzi, and the younger generation such as Zahara from South Africa. From Malawi, many artists tour the world, Lucius Banda, The Black Missionaries, Wyndham Chechamba or Agorosso, without forgetting our own Faith Mussa who is here with us at Chancellor College. To Rodney Likaku and the students of Our Music program, I would like to say that by teaching music to children in schools in the Zomba area, you are touching music at the heart. Facilitating transmission, sharing knowledge, playing together, improvising, creating songs and melodies that tell stories, our stories, the stories of our lives. Music in Malawi is everywhere: in churches, in the villages, in the homes, in the schools, in the traditional ceremonies. But what Malawi needs is music schools, and music taught as a curriculum in the schools, both at primary and secondary levels. Children have the talent. What they need is the tools to express their talents. At the Jacaranda School for Orphans, we encourage our children to sing, to dance, to play instruments. Today, we have children learning how to play guitar, drums, piano, violin, even trumpet and tuba. Our school choir is performing in various festivals and artists have been attracted by the dynamism and the joy of our children. Artists from Malawi come and volunteer to do workshops with the children, and our students have had the chance to meet the legendary Salif Keita from Mali, or Nomfusi from South Africa. In 2012, two of our students performed at the pre olympic celebrations in London with the British band The Noisettes, in front of 20,000 people. Last November two other children traveled to Scotland and Vienna, Austria, to sing, invited by the NGO Marys Meals. What does it mean? It means that through music, children learn how to express themselves. They learn how to gain confidence and believe in themselves, how to perform on stage, how to communicate with others, how to reach out and talk out loud. Teaching music is also teaching how to work in a group, how to respect others, how to focus, and day after day, how to learn, to progress. Those are skills children need in their lives. We notice that children who study music listen and participate better in class and improve their school results. All of you today, the students of Chancellor College, have a responsibility. The responsibility to share what you have learnt in this Great Hall, and to be part of the blossoming Arts industry of Malawi. You have gained skills and knowledge that allow you to contribute in developing and transforming Malawi. Music is an industry too. And so much remains to be done in Malawi. Developing record labels. Artists Management companies. Music for Advertising. Online platforms. Live shows production. Music Schools and academies. There are so many facets in the music industry. And the music industry is linked with TV production, cinema, theater, poetry, fashion, all the arts that make up a country and put Malawi on the world map. You, students of Chancellor College, are the youth of Malawi. And our children in Malawi are looking up to you. Congratulations on developing this wonderful program of Our Music. The world is eager to hear your talents and the talents of Malawi. Zikomo kwambiri.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 09:58:46 +0000
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